Biking 101: Going Clipless

My biking education and training evolves. Today I went clipless. What does that mean? “Clips” refers to the older style of making sure your foot stayed on the pedal, this was straps making a little cage for your shoe on the pedal-there’s a picture below of this. “Clipless” is the newer invention of affixing your shoe securely to the pedal via a little locking cleat mechanism

Trainer

I upgraded my wind trainer to a CycleOps fluid trainer. Why? The wind trainer was noisy as hell. I literally couldn’t last more than fifteen minutes without going insane. AND I couldn’t hear the TV-a most important component on inside riding.I bought a trainer tire. I successfully changed the tire on my bike-it involved me kind of laying on the tire in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Getting the cassette back on the bike moved me to tears and needed an assist from the hubs. But it was on!

Clips

I bought the clips-or the toe cages-for my bike back in the summer time. One of the little screws fell out, and the cage has been dangling like this for weeks, but it still works to slip my foot into the cage.

Going Clipless

Yes, the cycling world is weird. The shoes that you clip into the pedal are referred to as “clipless”. There is a million variables of clipless pedals and shoes to choose from, which cost from thirty dollars to several thousand. Being a total clipless newby, I don’t need 0.5 gram carbon fiber pedals-I just need something to try.

A friend via Twitter recommended these pedals to me, and it was good advice as any, so I bought them and shoes off Amazon. (Affiliate link for these!)

Since both pedals and shoes showed up, it was time to become a bike mechanic. This is why I haven’t become a Fred before this; I am not interested in fixing things. I’m not very good with mechanical things. But I am learning. I am embracing bike mechanics 101.

I did it! I’m Clipless!

I did have to get the hubs to come downstairs and loosen up the old “clip” pedals off the bike, but I installed the cleats on the shoes, the pedals on the bike. I was able to clip in, and (after Googling) was able to clip OUT of the pedals.

I didn’t stay on the trainer long, only wanted to feel these new shoes and pedals. I could already tell a difference, being attached to the bike on the upstroke as well as the down stroke. I hope to get comfortable clipping in and out on the trainer before the first spring ride outside.

Have you embraced new technology in your sport? How soon will I fall over on this bike this spring?